You cannot use a pound character in a file name for a hyperlink in an Office program

Symptoms

When you create a hyperlink to another file, the file name that appears in the hyperlink text may appear to be different than the actual file name. For example, a hyperlink to a file with the following file name:

C:\My Documents\Book#One.xls

may appear as follows:

C:\My Documents\Book - One.xls

Also, when you attempt to click the hyperlink, you may receive the following error message:

Cannot Open the Specified File.

Cause

These problems may occur when the name of file to which you create the hyperlink contains a pound sign (#).

NOTE: The pound sign is a valid character to use in a file name but is not accepted in hyperlinks in Office documents.

Workaround

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods.

Method 1

Rename the file with a name that does not include the pound sign, and then edit or recreate the hyperlink.

For more information about how to rename a file in Windows, see your Windows printed documentation or online Help.

To edit the hyperlink, follow these steps:

For Office 2003 and earlier versions of Office:

Right-click the cell that contains the problem hyperlink. On the shortcut menu that appears, point to Hyperlink, and click Edit Hyperlink.

In the Type the file or Web page name box, type the name of the file that you are linking to. If you do not know the name of the file, click File and browse to the file. Click OK.

For Office 2007 and Office 2010 programs:

Right-click the cell that contains the problem hyperlink, and then point to Edit Hyperlink.

In the Address box, type the name of the file that you are linking to. If you do not know the name of the file, use the search tools on the Look in... line to locate the file. Select the file, and then click OK.

Method 2

Use the Paste as Hyperlink command:

For Office 2003 and earlier versions:

Open the document that you are trying to link to (which contains the # sign in the name).

Copy the cell that you want to link to.

In your document, on the Edit menu, click Paste as Hyperlink.

For Office 2007 and Office 2010 programs:

Open the document that you are trying to link to. This is the document that contains the # sign in the name.

Copy the cell that you want to link to.

In your document, click the cell in which you want the hyperlink to appear.

On the Home tab, click the arrow below Paste in the Clipboard group, and then click Paste as Hyperlink.